Tom albert bastin



H (No Model.)

T. A. BASTIN. SPOOL BOX.

No. 439,622. Patented Nov. 4, 1890.

Ji J. 12 3,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TOM ALBERT BASTIN, OF BEDFORD, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO EDl/VARD TENNEY BOUSFIELD, OF SAME PLACE.

SPOOL-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 439,622, dated November 4, 1890. Application filed April '7, 1890- Serial No. 346,984. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, Ton ALBERT BASTIN, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Bedford, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in Boxes for Containing Reels or Balls of Cotton, Thread, and Similar Materials, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to boxes for containing reels or balls of cotton, thread, silk, string, or other materials, and has for its object to efiect economy and convenience in the use of such materials for domestic or other uses. Ac-

. cording to my invention each box is provided with a cutter by means of which any desired length of cotton or the like may be out off, and also with a friction device for preventing too much cotton or the like from being inadvertently withdrawn, and for insuring sufficient tension to enable the cutting to be readily effected.

To enable my invention to be fully understood, I will describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation of a box constructed according to my invention, and Fig. 2 is a plan of the same with the lid or cover removed.

' Fig. 3 is an under side view of the said box,

and Fig. 4 is a perspective view. Fig. 5 is a section on the line w 00, Fig. 1. Figs. 6 and 7 are vertical and horizontal sections, respect ively, illustrating a modification of my invention.

a is the body of the box, and b is the lid.

0 is the cutter, which, as shown, is secured to the bottom of the box, its cutting-edge being placed adjacent to a slot or recess 01, formed at the angle of the box, and e is a slot formed in the side of the box and through which the end of the cotton or the like is passed, this slot or slit extending up to the top edge of the box, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. This facilitates the insertion of the thread in the slot before the cover is put on the box, and avoids the difficulty, annoyance, and delay of attempting to thread a mere hole or eye from the inside of the box.

f is a spindle, which is preferably arranged in the center of the box to carry the reel or ball therein. As shown in Fig. 5, this spindle is represented as secured in the cutter, this being efiected prior to the introduction of the latter into the box, so that two rivets g g serve for maintaining both the cutter and spindle in place.

h is the friction device for maintaining the tension of the cotton or the like.

When the box is designed to be used for reels only, the necessary friction is advantageously applied to thereel itself, and for this purpose I have represented the friction device in the form of a coiled spring secured with one end beneath the cutter and serving when a reel is in the box to press the same against the lid thereof. The coiled spring shown and applied as in Figs. 2 and 5 is also applicable to balls as well as to reels or spools, and a disk or washer i, as in Fig. 5, is then desirable, but not positively necessary, between the ball and the spring; but when balls of cotton or the like are in the box the friction device is preferably adapted to bear upon the cotton or the like itself, and for this purpose it is advantageously in the form of a flat spring, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, pressing against the side of the box, the cotton as it is drawn from the said box passing between the latter and the spring. It is to be understood that this form of friction device is also applicable in connection with reels instead of the device shown in Figs. 2 and 5. It will be obvious with this construction that after a sufficient length of cotton or the like has been withdrawn from the box it can be readily severed from that upon the reel or ball by pressing it against the cutter, and that after the cotton or other material is so severed a sufficient length projects through the slot 6 to enable the cotton or the like to be grasped when another length is required.

The lid or cover of the box is advantageously perforated, so that the number or size of the cotton or the like within it can be ascertained.

It is obvious that a box can be constructed adapted to contain two or more reels.

Having now particularly described and as certained the nature of my said invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is.-

1. A box adapted for containing cotton, thread, silk, or similar materials, whether in a ball or on spools, and having the following features, viz: a fixed spool-spindle, a threaddelivering hole located in the side of the box at a point higher than half the height of the spindle and communicating with a slot open at its top, a cover serving to close the only open end of such slot, and a spring friction device adapted to prevent too free a delivery of the thread or silk from its spool, all substantially as described.

2. A box adapted to contain either reels or balls of cotton, thread, or the like, having therein a fixed spindle, and having a threadhole in its side communicating with an opentop slot e, as set forth, and provided with a TOM ALBERT BASTIN. Witnesses:

G. F. REDFERN, JOHN E. BOUSFIELD, Of the firm of G. F. Redfern d: 00., 4 South Street, Finsbury, London, Patent Agents. 

